The Courage Within
by AnimatedCyclone244
Summary: Ryan hated the fact that his mother dragged him all the way out in Africa while she was on a job, so far away from the life and friends he had. But after saving a seemingly ordinary monkey from a poachers snare, he found himself with the task of saving the world he never wanted to even be a part of.
1. Chapter 1

**Yaaay, my first Lion King fanfic!*happy dance***

**I hop you all enjoy the read:D:D:D**

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"Ryan?" Kathrynne Morris called out from the door of her camper that stood right in the African Savannah. "Ryan, where are you?"

She stepped out of the camper and walked out a little ways. A frustrated expression on her face when

"Ryan Andrew Morris! You better answer me!"

"Geeze, I'm -here-, there's no call for yelling!" a voice answered above her making her look up to see a 17-year-old boy with dark, chestnut brown hair and tired hazel eyes sitting up on a tree branch that hung directly over their camper.

"Young man, what have I told you about falling asleep out here?" Kathrynne asked, placing her hands on her hips as he lowered himself down from the branch, dangling a bit before dropping down before her. "There are dangerous animals roaming around, what if one decided to make a meal of you?"

"Then he better be prepared for the worst indigestion of his life." Ryan remarked, "Relax mom, weren't you the one who told me that the safest place to sleep was a tree if I'm out on the savannah?"

"That's only when you don't have metal walls to protect you." Kathrynne told him moving out of the way as he dropped back to the ground. "Now come on, help me set up a fire before I head out."

"I want you to keep this fire going all night, so be sure that you add enough wood and-"

"Geeze, mom, alright!" Ryan snapped. "I know how to start a freaking fire and keep it going!"

"Now stop patronizing me and go already, mustn't keep Doug or your 'precious' animals waiting." He added with a sour tone as he knelt down started to stack some wood in the fire pit.

"Lord, Ryan," Kathrynne started with an exasperated sigh. "Can't we get through one day together without you acting-"

"Like dad did?" he interrupted, shooting a look over his shoulder.

"I wasn't going to say that..." Kathrynne told him in a quiet voice. "Don't put words in my mouth."

"You probably weren't going to say it, but that doesn't mean you never think I'm acting like him he used to every time I do or say something you don't agree with." Ryan told her, taking out a black flip lid lighter that had a metal lion's head carving on the front and lighting up a bundle of dry grass before sticking it under the logs.

"…This is the reason why he left, you know." He added, angrily looking around at the African landscape.

"You're father made a choice, Ryan." Kathrynne said.

"Yeah, and so did you!" Her son retorted. "He may not have been the most perfect dad in the world, but he at least tried to put family first instead of work and a bunch of animals."

"At least I knew he loved me enough to make the effort."

"And you don't think I did?" Kathrynne asked

"Well, he was home a heck of a lot more than you ever were!"

Kathrynne just stood there; feeling a little numb at her sons biting words. And after a few moments, she mentally gave herself a kick and grabbed her bag, trying hard to keep herself together.

"Well, then I guess I'll be heading out now." She said, taking her keys off of her belt loop. "Once it get dark, go back in the camper and stay inside, don't come out for anything."

"I'll give you a call when I've made it to the sight."

She walked over to the jeep, but just when she opened the door, she hesitated, looking over towards Ryan who still had his back to her. She wanted to say something to him, but it felt as though her voice just couldn't handle it.

So with a single tear rolling down her face, she hopped up into the jeep and drove away.  
Once Ryan finally got a flame to go, he gave a heavy sigh, standing up turning around to watch the jeep drive further and further away.

"Man," he started in a regretful tone, plopping down in the camp chair, just watching the fire as it got bigger. Once again he let his temper go and run his mouth, he didn't mean to say that at all; what was he thinking?

"I went way too far this time…"

But even through his musings, it wasn't very long before Ryan suddenly started to feel himself drift off yet again and he relaxed deeper into chair. His eyes getting heavier and heavier before they finally closed.

Being in heat like this always made him so tired.

...

...

...

...

...

"REEEEEAGH!"

Ryan gasped at the sound of a loud scream, and looked around to see that night had fallen with the only light to be found within the full moon that shone above him and the still glowing embers of what was left of the fire.

"Shhhhh!" Ryan hissed as he jumped from the camp chair and grabbed a handful of dry grass and a few more logs and put them in the pit, sighing with relief when they started to catch fire.

"RARARAREEEEGH!" He looked out into the dark hills when he suddenly heard the scream again. It didn't sound like a person's voice, it was too animal like, maybe some sort of monkey.

But whatever it was, the racket it was making was going to attract some sort of larger predator at some point. So after he made sure that the fire would go strong until he came back out to check it, he folded up the chair and went straight to the camper.

But as soon as he opened the door and got one foot on the first step, he suddenly stopped and looked back towards the shadowy hills.

The poor thing, it sounded so frightened…

"No, no! Mom said to stay in the camper," he firmly said out loud, forcing himself to get inside.

He legs wouldn't move through and he again looked back out through the door. He couldn't help the thoughts of it being hurt or caught in a trap; it wouldn't have a fighting chance if a larger animal decided it wanted an easy meal.

And it sounded like it was nearby…

"RARARAOOooOH!"

Hearing that last scream finally did it.

"…What she doesn't know won't hurt her," Ryan said to himself as he put down the chair and gabbed a flashlight from a cupboard. He'd only go for just a quick look, and even if he didn't find it, his conscious wouldn't be able to tell him he didn't at least try.

Stepping back outside, he closed the door and turned on the flashlight. Watching as the beam shined a path through the darkness of the night, hesitating only for a moment.

"I'm such a moron," he muttered as he made himself walk.

...

...

...

...

When he shined the light on it, he could make out a small red body with a white chest and face and black fur on top of its head that made it look like it had a widows peek.  
He recognized the species as a red-backed squirrel monkey.

Noticing the light, the little monkey turned, giving a loud screech when it saw him. It tried to run away, but it suddenly jerked and fell over from something tugging on its arm.

Shining his light, Ryan noticed something glint, and looking closer, he saw that the poor animal was caught in a thin wire snare.

Ryan slowly walked over towards the frightened monkey, making it bared it teeth and chitter at him threateningly as it pulled away as far as the snare would allow.

"Easy, I'm not here to hurt you." Ryan said as he carefully got down to one knee before it. Thinking that the flashlight might also be scaring it, he slowly put it on the ground. The monkey look at it, then back t him multiple times; it stopped showing teeth, but it still looked very wary of him.

"It's okay little guy, I'm only here to help." Ryan assured.

He waited a few seconds, then he began to reach out to it, maybe if it saw that he was gentle, it would relax a little more. But when the little creature saw his hand coming closer, it let out a fearful coo that made Ryan pause for a moment, and he met its eyes with an earnest expression on his face.

"Trust me," Ryan said. "At least enough to help me get you out of here."

It made no other sound, and after Ryan was sure that it wasn't going to try and bite him, she closed the distance between his hand and its head.

The fur felt soft under his fingers, and he gentle stroked it in a comforting manner. The monkey looked like it actually didn't mind it.

"See, I'm nice." Ryan said, offering it a smile.

To his surprise, the monkey actually moved closer to him, keeping its eyes on his face for a moment before it slowly climbed into his lap, clutching his shirt with its little paws.

Taking advantage of the trust, Ryan took the arm that was caught and examined it carefully, cringing at the sight. The poor creature had struggled so much that the wire was buried deep in its flesh, making terrible looking cuts that crossed over each other.

It didn't look like it was bleed all that badly, but the sooner Ryan got it back to the camper, the fast he could dress it and keep it from getting worse.

"Stupid poachers, leaving these cowardly traps..." He commented, taking out a knife from his pocket. "Well, at least it was only a wire snare and not something else,"

Once he cut the strand, he gentle cradled the monkey in an arm and grabbed his flashlight, taking a quick look around to make sure that nothing was out there watching him before he hurried back to the safety of the camper.

...

...

"Hey, stop that, my fingers are still there!" Ryan said, moving his patients furry face away for the fifth time as it tried to nibbling at the bandages Ryan was dressing to its wrist. "This would go a lot fast if you'd just sit still, you know."

Once they made it back, Ryan had wasted no time working on the injury. It let him take the rest of the wire off of its wrist with hardly any problems other than screeching at him here and there because it hurt, it hated the antiseptic, and by the time Ryan had got out the bandages, it was just tired of being handled. But that was fine with Ryan, he was almost done any way.

"Annnd there we go." Ryan said, firmly fastening the bandage. "I'll leave you alone now."

The monkey eyed the white wrap on its wrist, sniffing it curiously, but it no longer tried to get it off and just looked over at Ryan with its large eyes.

"You can stay with me until my mom comes back," Ryan said with a small smile before placing a hand on its head and stroking its fur. "That way, I can keep an eye on your wound." And it would give him some company until she got back.

Plus, it could probably help him practice with an apology.

Music from the ring tone of his cell phone suddenly rang in the air, and he left the monkey on the small kitchen counter and went to the living quarters. But as he picked it up to see who was calling, he never noticed the little ape's eyes start to glow with a bright golden light.

He saw 'Mom' on the screen, she must have made to Paul and the others.

But just when he was about to flip it open, a loud 'BOOOOOOM!' suddenly exploded in his ears and he was knocked off his feet by a rush of air.

He hit the floor in a daze, but the sensation of powerful gusts of wind made him pull it together to try and find out what was going on; His eyes widening as he saw papers and books and all sorts of utensils flying around him as though he were trapped in the middle of tornado.

His thoughts going to the monkey, he looked over his should to see where it was, or if it was even all right.

But there it was right near its feet, looking indifferent to what was happening within the camper. But the strangest thing was, now it eyes, and even its body was glowing.  
After a few seconds went by, it was like it's little body dissolved into light, and it swirled around the whole room until Ryan finally had to shield his eyes from the brightness.

'Ryan Morris,'

He heard a deep and powerful voice say.

'You are worthy...'

"Worthy for what?!" Ryan cried, trying to squint through the light and find the owner of it. "Who are you?!

'I am Mufasa, one of the many great kings of the past.' It answered. 'I have seen strength and courage within your heart, and I have felt mercy and kindness from your hand.'

"What do you want?!" Ryan yelled over the roar of the wind.

'I have chosen you with a task.' The voice said. 'Find my son, and with him, help save my family.' The voice instructed as the gusts suddenly picked up, making Ryan lay down as he felt that he'd be swept away. 'For it is only you who will be able to lift the shadow that blankets their fate.'

A wave of voices suddenly began to fill his ears, animal voices.

He could make out the chattering of monkeys, the whiny of Zebra's, the trumpeting of an elephant, and other voices of animals that were too jumbled together for him to identify.  
It seemed to never end, and hearing those voices all at once soon began to make his head hurt and his vision grow dark.

He fell to the ground with exhaustion, and two large paws stepping before him made him look up to see a huge and regale looking Lion with golden fur and a thick red mane looking down at him with proud, amber colored eyes.

'Help my family.'

Ryan didn't know if it was his fading vision playing tricks on him, but the big cat seemed to be glowing, as if the sun itself was shining from his body.

The last thing Ryan heard was a loud and mighty Lion's roar before he finally passed out.

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**Now kiddies, unless you want a freak tornado that makes animal sounds happening inside your camper, I highly suggest not picking up stray monkeys X)**

**Let me know what you think guys.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Woot! second chapter is up!**

**Please enjoy the chapter every one!:D**

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Ryan awoke with a gasp, and got to his feet so fast that he got dizzy and fell back down.

As he sat there trying to wait for his motor skills to work again, he looked back and forth feeling confused and slightly scared to see that he was no longer in his camper, but out in the open somewhere in the middle of the savannah.

It was still kind of dark outside, but it was light enough for him to see that the camper was nowhere in sight, and none of the surroundings were familiar to him at all. But pretty soon he did find a familiar object laying a few feet away from him.

It was his water back pack that he bought before he came here with his mother.

Letting out a relived cry, he quickly crawled over to it and clutched it in his hands. It was about half full of water already, and when he opened it up he saw that he still had two large water bottles and two bags of beef jerky, well, one and a half bags as he already snacked on one of them.

Still it was better than having nothing.

He finally made himself get to his feet and he slung the back pack over his shoulders. He didn't have his compass with him, so he had to determine the general direction of where the camper was with the sun.

After he made up his mind, he quickly set out.

Ryan didn't know how long he had been walking, but judging by how much lighter it had become since he woke up, it at least had to be close to an half hour without so much as a glint of something metal. And already he could feel the air around growing hotter as the Africa sun rose higher and higher from the ground.

But along the way, he tried to wrap his mind around what happened last night. He decided that it was just too crazy to have really happened. it must have just been a crazy dream, glowing monkey, tornadoes in the middle of a camper, talking ghost Lions, he must have caught something that made him a little loopy.

Maybe some sort of bug bit him when he fell asleep outside and the toxin it had made him delirious. And in his poor state of mind he just grabbed whatever was closest to him and and just walked out in the middle of nowhere.

Because he'd never go anywhere without his compass if he had the choice.

He decided to stop for a moment to make a plan, and he reached around to take the hose from his water pack and take a few sips. He knew that he had to find somewhere to stay pretty soon if he still didn't find anything familiar, because he certainly did not want to be caught stranded out here with that sun without some form of shade.

"HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELP!"

Ryan chocked on his water at the suddenly scream, it sounded like someone was close by.

And about to be freaking killed!

"What's the matter?!" he called out, looking around to find the owner of the voice.

"Help me!" it yelled again, it sounded closer this time, and he could also hear someone else, actually, multiple voices laughing too.

"Follow my voice!" Ryan yelled, hopping a bit at he tried to look over the tall, golden grasses. And he suddenly noticed patches of the grass rustling as someone ran through them. Whoever it was must have been really small. "You're getting closer! Keep running forward!"

But instead of a person running out, it was just a little Meerkat.

"uh…" that was all Ryan could let out as he watched the small creature pant heavily, there must have been some mistake, was someone playing a joke on him?

The Meerkat looked up and met his eyes, and he instantly got a relieved expression on its terrified face. "Help me!" he cried as it ran towards him and jumped on his leg, it was the same voice as earlier. "They're gonna to eat me!"

Ryan felt his eyes nearly pop out of his head as he stared at the animal. "Did you just-"

Laughter cut him off and he looked up to see three hungry looking Hyena's stroll out from the grasses.

"Well, well, it's our lucky day, boys." The only female of the group announced. "Our little snack led us straight to breakfast."

Shock replaced by wariness, Ryan stared at them carefully. Hyenas didn't look like much, but he knew that they were bad news from the stories that his mother used to tell about them. Alone they only seemed like lowly scavengers, but if they were in a pack… even animals as fearsome as lions were known to be afraid of them.

"It's a little big, isn't it?" one of the males commented, eying Ryan with an unsure look.

"That only means there's more to eat." The other said with a grin. "It's got no claws and fangs, and no hooves to kick us with, so what can it do?"

"Oh I can do plenty!" Ryan said, looking down to see a thick branch lying near his feet. He quickly picked it up and displayed in a threatening stance. "I was the best batter in my baseball team!"

"What's a batter?" The female asked.

"What's baseball?" the male followed.

"Long story short, it means I can knock your heads from here to China if you don't back off!" Ryan growled, making the air whistle as he swung it down when one of them tried to get closer.

It giggled madly as it rejoined the other and soon the three of them were laughing as though he had done something more that was funny rather than threatening.

"Well would you listen to that, sounds like it has some fire, Shenzi."

"Hehehe, that's alright, Banzai" Shenzi said. "I love my meals with a little spice."

"Don't you Ed?"

The other male, who seemed to always have his tongue out, only answered with maniacal cackle before licking his chops and growling.

Ryan felt the little Meerkat cling tighter to his jeans when thy suddenly began to circle around them. And he just shrugged his shoulders and clutched the stick harder, looking, listening and waiting. He'd be sure to show them just how much 'spice' he had!

It seemed like hours went by as Ryan waited for an opportunity, but it finally came when the one they called 'Ed' let out a low snarl and sprang at him from the left.

Unfortunately for him, though, that was the side where Ryan always delivered his most powerful swings.

He hit him across his shoulder so hard that stick splintered, and the Hyena gave a loud yelp in pain, falling on the ground and limping from the sting he still felt.

Seeing this, Banzai was a little more careful in attacking, but it was hard to get close enough to bit with Ryan swinging the stick with every move he made.

Ryan suddenly cried out when he felt something hard hit him in the arm, and she looked over to see that Shenzi was kicking large stones at him with her hind feet. And she immediately followed with one after another until she fired one that got him right in the temple before he had the chance to even think to duck.

The force that it hit him was enough to make him nearly topple over as he dropped his only weapon and clutched at the painfully throbbing spot on his head. He couldn't even see straight.

"_AAAAAAAHHH_!" Ryan yelled when it felt like a bear trap had suddenly clamped down on his left thigh, piercing through his jeans and flesh as though they were made of paper.

Blinking through the pain, he saw that Banzai had taken advantage of his injury and took his chance, and Ryan could just feel the pressure from his jaws getting tighter and tighter.

The young man raised a fist, intending the punch the mongrel in the nose to make him let go, but Banzai suddenly released him before he could make a move.

He soon figured out why when both Shenzi and Ed came plowing into him.

Ryan let out a cry as he actually sailed through the air from the force he was hit, and he landed face first on ground a good distance away, hurt and winded.

The Meerkat, who still hung on until the moment Ryan went down, ran up and stopped near his face, "Hey! Get up!" He cried, slapping his cheek with his little paws. "They'll kill ya if you don't!"

And Ryan did try, but he was so disoriented that he couldn't get his legs to work. He flopped over on his back with a frustrated and pain filled hiss, and when he looked ahead, he saw that he was directly under a tree.

In the state he was in, there was no way he could climb up himself and stay there, but he could make sure that the Meerkat could.

He took the little animal in a firm grasp, ignoring the startled, "_Whoa!_" and flung him up as hard as he could. The Meerkat screamed the whole way up, but he landed safely on one of the branches, much to his surprise.

But that surprise was short lived when he glanced back down, worry etched all over his furry face as he watched Ryan slump over against the tree trunk, his head looking as though it was too heavy for him to even hold up.

"Hehehe, wow, that was the most fun I've had in ages!" Banzai laughed.

"Yeah, kinda made me feel a couple years younger," Shenzi agreed, "What about you, Ed?"

"Hehehe, Hahahahahehe!"

"Well, now that fun time's officially over," Shenzi started, "Let's chow down."

Ryan weakly tried to push against the trunk to get to his feet and make a run for it, but it was no use, he hit his head too hard and he wouldn't be able to keep his eyes open much longer.

Great. He hadn't even been awake for even a single hour and he was gonna black out again already and become kibble for a mangy pack of cowardly scavengers.

Ryan tensed and then looked away when they crouched low to the ground, he could hear them growling and giggling with anticipation at the thought of having a large meal, but they were cut short by startled gasps as a loud and thundering roar suddenly rang though the air.

Pretty soon, and his ears were filled with snarls, growls and yelps of pain.

And slowly, he opened his eyes to see several large, cream furred Lionesses moving in a scramble as they fought with the tree Hyenas, fearsome snarls upon their muzzles as the frightened canines desperately tried to escape.

Pretty soon, they decided that they had enough punishment and they just let the three of them run off with their tails between their legs.

Whatever relief Ryan felt at the thought of being saved from becoming food flitted away when his clouded mind finally registered that his rescuers where_ Lions_. The Lionesses only looked at him for a moment before they suddenly parted and a large male lion walked towards him.

Ryan tried to keep his eyes on him, but he had to look away as the sun directly behind had risen high enough to be almost level with his head.

The sting from the light made his already hurting head even worse, but he gritted his teeth and squinted at the Lion as he stood before him. The way with light was on him, there was something very familiar about this Lion…

"M-Mufasa?"

A look of surprise filled the lions face, but then he eyed Ryan suspiciously. "Who are you?" He asked. "How do you know my father?"

Not Mufasa, this must have been his son then, what happened last night wasn't a dream after all.

Ryan had so many questions about why he was brought here, but already his world was getting darker and darker, and he could only utter one last word.

"Simba..."

When the strange creature looked unconscious, it was then Simba dared to get closer, leaning down and sniffing at the patch of fur it had on its head.

He had a strange smell, like nothing the Lion could recognize, all around, this animal was something entirely new to the Pride Lands.

He didn't know what he was, and he had no idea how he could possibly know his father.

He suddenly felt something brush up against him and he looked into the blue eyes of his mate, Nala. "What do you think it is, Simba?"

"I have no idea, I don't think I've ever seen anything quite like him before." He answered her.

"I can tell you what that monster is!" a voice suddenly screeched, making the two of them looked up just in time to see their major do no, Zazu, glide down from the air before perching on Simbas' shoulder. "That, sire, is man!"

"Man?" Nala asked.

"I've heard enough tales of them to recognize what they are, they walk tall on their hind legs, dressed in strange things to make up for their pathetic lack of fur." The blue bird explained. "They hunt us animals, not for food, but for fun!"

"They take our fur, our feathers, our teeth and claws all as trophies for their blood sport!" He shot the young man a venomous glare. "Sire, it would be most wise if you would dispose of this creature before he has the chance to wake up and do the same to us!"

"NO! You can't!" Timon suddenly cried, rushing to the humans' side. "Look, I may not know as much about man as Mr. Banana beak over here, no offense,"

Zazu only rolled his eyes.

"But I know that this guy isn't like the ones who supposedly hunt us." Timon stated. "If he was, why throw me up a tree to keep safe from the Hyena's?" He slowly glanced down at the ground, rubbing his neck.

"Why didn't he just leave me?"

"And how would he know my father's name?" Simba asked, sending the man a thoughtful look.

"…We'll take him back to Pride Rock"

"But sire!" Zazu tried to object.

"If he does anything to threaten us, I'll deal with him personally." Simba stated in a voice that said he had made his decision. "But in return for saving a friend, we shall care for him until he is able to walk from his injury."

Zazu still didn't seem to like that idea at all, but all he could do was let out an exasperated sigh. He could never go against the wishes of his King.

"Help me get him on." he instructed his Lionesses and he stooped down before him.  
A couple of them, plus Nala took mouthfuls of whatever was on the young man's arms and back and slowly pulled him over their Kings back. Once they were sure that he wouldn't fall off, they all headed back to their home. They needed to get him there before it was time for the morning hunt.

"Thanks Simba, I owe you one for coming." Timon said gratefully from his spot on the man's back.

"You should thank Pumbaa," Simba said, sending him a sideways smile. "He got worried when you never met with him to dig up early morning grubs."

"Good ol' Pumbaa," Timon said. "I'm gonna have to find him lots of tasty bugs for lookin' out for my tail."

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**Aw, poor Ryan, he's having a bad day. but hopefully it'll look up for him later on...maybe?**

**Let me know what you guys think :)**


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